COMM 402: Approaches to Rhetorical Criticism

Comm 402: Context

In order to fully analyze your artifact, you must first situate the artifact in both the historical and scholarly context.

The historical context will help you understand the time period during which your artifact was created: what was the social and political climate during that time period? How does the artifact fit into the conversation at the time?

The scholarly context will help you understand how scholars discuss your artifact, and artifacts like yours.

The New York Times Historical Collection provides full page and article images including the NY Daily Times (1851-1857). The most recent four years not included in this historical collection can be searched through ProQuest Direct, LexisNexis or Factiva.

Archival issues and articles beginning with 1881. Issues published during the past twenty-four years are not available in this database. Check ProQuest or Factiva databases for the material not held in this collection.

GenderWatch contains publications which focus on how gender impacts a broad spectrum of subject areas. GenderWatch is a repository of an important historical perspective on the evolution of the women’s movement and the changes in gender roles.

APA Style

Citing sources is expected in scholarly communities and is almost always required in research papers. Scholars cite:

to give credit where credit is due;

so your reader (professor) can find the source that you mentioned in your assignment;

to add credibility to your research - shows you did the work;

and to avoid plagiarism!

Not sure where to start? Review this Flow Chart of the citation process before you continue!

APA Style

APA stands for the American Psychological Association. This is the preferred citation style of many of the social and behavioral sciences. Always remember to check your assignment guidelines or ask your professor which citation style they prefer for your work.

Official APA Style Manual Resources

APA Style Manual (BF76.7 P83 2010)Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association: the most current APA style manual is available at the Kellogg library. Click on the above link to find a copy.

The official APA website Off campus or need APA guidelines right now? Access the official APA website for citation help by clicking the above link. This site has useful tutorials and up-to-date facts about citing in APA.

Also Helpful: Citation Generators

Zotero Zotero is a tool for storing citations and generating bibliographies using data collected from the library catalog or websites such as Amazon or Google. For more information on using Zotero, see our Zotero Guide. Always double check your results with citation generators, they are not always perfect!

KnightCite Citation Service This citation generator formats your citations for you. This can be a convenient tool, especially if you have a lot of sources to cite, but it is NOT 100% accurate. ALWAYS check an additional resource like the APA Manual or Purdue OWL to make sure that the citation is formatted correctly!